Help with thru axle!

yer_averagejoe · 12 Sep 2017 at 21:52

Hey guys,

just bought my first road bike, coming from the mountain biking world.

Anyway, got my new bike home and started setting it up, tried to remove the rear wheel to remove the dork ring and I can't do it! The thru axle is stuck fast. I'm a little worried as it's a carbon frame and it's only supposed to be tightened to 11nm.. but it won't budge. I'm not used to thru-axles so not sure what the best approach here is. I've put a bit of lube on where it touches the frame incase it's fused or something and might try a hair dryer but anything else I should try?

Why would the shop have tightened it so much!?

Cheers!

SDK^ · 12 Sep 2017 at 22:17

Is is a lever release or Alan key?

DarkHorizon472 · 12 Sep 2017 at 22:34

It should be easy enough to undo by hand , even if on fairly tight. Best to take it back to the shop so they can have a quick look.

yer_averagejoe · 12 Sep 2017 at 22:51

It's a lever, pic below:

DarkHorizon472 · 12 Sep 2017 at 22:57

Maybe they tightened it with an Allen key if I see correctly in the photo, in which case you have no chance getting it off by hand using the lever.

yer_averagejoe · 12 Sep 2017 at 22:59

nah that bolt is just for the aesthetic positioning of the lever if you get what I mean? doesn't tighten the axle itself.

DarkHorizon472 · 12 Sep 2017 at 23:01

Fair enough, to be safe take it back to the shop, it should not take much strength to undo or tighten properly.

Jonny ///M · 13 Sep 2017 at 00:21

The shop probably didn't have it off to have to tighten it again...

Had a few Felt fat bikes that took an extra bit of leverage to undo from the factory.

yer_averagejoe · 16 Sep 2017 at 10:52

Well I ended up getting it loose through a combination of lube, a hair dryer and a few persuasive knocks with a hammer. It shifted about a mm and I pulled it the rest of the way by hand. Not happy though. I bought the bike online due to its vastly reduced price over local places and they first of all took 2 weeks to deliver and the when I emailed about the stuck thru axle they've not responded in 4 working days. Nor did the workshop pick up when I tried to phone.

Bad review coming up..

DarkHorizon472 · 16 Sep 2017 at 11:14

Glad it is sorted, just get out and enjoy the bike

UTmaniac · 16 Sep 2017 at 18:20

Bolt thru torques probably vary a bit between manufacturers, but off the top of my tired head, my Cube Attain GTC is ~10-12nM.